Hi Everyone

Perusing through this forum, trying to expand my general FP knowledge, being a newbie, I've seen 3 different Pilot converter models mentioned in discussions, CON-10?, CON-20, CON-50. In the discussions the model number is mentioned but that's about it. I'd like to know what the differences are. Also are there more than the 3 that are always mentioned?

Hi Pat,

The three modern pen converters in order of smallest to largest are:

#1 The Con 20

It is a squeeze type.

#2 The Con 50

It is a twisting piston type

#3 The Con 70

It is a push button plunger

Not all converters fit all Pilot pens. For example the larger Con70 will not fit in the skinny Grance pens.

Stay Well

RD

Thanks you Dr. Ron. May I ask another Q? Will the CON-70 fit into a Knight or a Prera?

Hey Pat,

Sorry... those pens will only take the Con 20's and 50's. The 70 is a little too fat.

Stay Well

RD

So is the CON 70 made to fit the upper tier Pilot's? BTW, thanks for your replies Doctor.

I believe the CON-70 is designed for a lot of Namiki fountain pens (outside of the VP).

Hey Pat, The Con 70 isn't necessarily designed for the upper teir pens, but the larger in size pens. As it turns out; however, most of the upper teir pens tend to be large.

Thank you guys for those precious informations. I just received a Con-20 together with my Pilot Prera Light Blue (still miss Ivory but Ujuku was apparently out of stock when I ordered.. very fast service anyway). What about the capacity-mileage of this converter compared to the Con-50 ? I hoped this converted had larger internal volume than the Con-50 but that's only wishful thinking.
Moreover, I noticed that squeezing the nice button on the (filled) converter (applying reasonable effort, avoiding brute force) cannot apparently push the ink out of the nib, like is possible with a piston converter. Is this typical of bladder-type converters or the bladder is still too new and rigid to obtain maximum 'performance'? That's my first 'squeeze' converter and it appears to work well.

Hi,

The Con-20 seems to have large capacity than the Con-50, but you cannot check the ink level. Normally, if the pen is filled completely, squeezing the bar would cause ink to shoot out of the pen.

Dillon

Wow that's true. I finally managed to empty the converter (nice jet of ink) and to fill it properly, evidently the rubber set up or I managed it properly. I used the Prera all day long, wrote many pages at work, took notes, left post-it messages, really no startup problems. In k is Pilot black ink (350 ml bottle also from Ujuku), good flow but a little light for my tastes, good anyway. A substantial amount was still there when I emptied the pen this evening. This small, plain pen is flawless. A little light, the 'M' nib is a F (and a fine one too) from all viewpoints but that's a given. Probably this pointy M nib is good for saving precious ink, and mileage with the Con-20 appears to be adequate.
Thank You Dillon for the information. I'm really happy with the Con-20 (a little awkward but tolerable). Probably I'll select this one for my future VP ... if this pen (like I suspect) cannot hold the Con-70.

Hi,

The Capless can't use a Con-70 converter, so I use a Con-20 converter with mine.

Dillon

I still wonder whatever happened to the "plyglass" formula that Parker devised. I've got an old Aerometric Parker 51 with plyglass sac and it's clear enough to see the ink level. To think of how this has lasted for over 50 years is simply amazing. If only Pilot could have made their CON-20 converters in the same manner, so that you could see the ink level.

One way to increase capacity is to use a Pilot cartridge. They hold more ink than the CON-20 and you can easily see the ink level. The only trouble is that you need to use a syringe to refill it. But if you've got one and don't mind the little extra effort involved, it's a nice setup.